The St. Thomas More Knights made the most of their road trip to Kelowna last week, returning with a couple more banners for the wall.
Sparked by a standout performance from Kate Stewart Barnett, Shiloh Corrales Nelson and Michelle Dadson, the team ventured to the B.C. High School track and field championships looking to put it all on the track and return home smiling.
They did just that, as the school finished as the AA aggregate champion, after claiming both the senior girls and junior girls crowns.
Stewart Barnett set the tone on the first event upon the team’s arrival, winning the junior girls 1500-metre steeplechase with a new best time of 4:53.69.
“We were running late so when we got (to the stadium) she hopped off the bus, got in a little warmup then ran a great race,” remarked STM coach David Mattiazzo. “(She) is an outstanding competitor.”
It was a spill-over from a tremendous series of events a week earlier, when the Royal City Track and Field Club member captured the junior girls heptathlon title with a tally of 4241 points, edging out Knights and RCTF teammate Alicia Bremer (3973 points).
Stewart Barnett’s victory in the heptathlon, which included first in high jump (1.59m) and the 800m (2:16.82), second in long jump and the 80m hurdles, and a bronze in the 200m event, provided a good clue as to how ready she was for the championship. She rounded out the heptathlon with a pair of fourth-place marks in the javelin and shotput.
After capturing the junior girls 800m event in South Surrey with a time that would have been golden in Kelowna, the coaches decided to move her to the 400m event last week, hoping to manage her workload.
The New West native struck out and posted the second-best time in the 400m race, an event she hasn’t trained for.
She also joined forces with Sophia Wong, Milena Kalisch and Bremer to take silver in the 4x400m relay with a time of 4:09.51.
Senior throwers Corrales-Nelson and Dadson nailed two medals each at the Kelowna-hosted provincials.
Corrales-Nelson, who graduates this month with a scholarship to the University of California-Riverside, collected silver in both the hammer throw, with a distance of 47.95m, and shotput, hitting 12.41m. Dadson, a Grade 11, picked up silver in the discus with a personal best throw of 38.49m, and bronze in shotput, reaching 12.05m.
Bremer’s performance in the heptathlon in South Surrey also deserves notice, as the teen registered the top time in the 80m hurdles (12.11), and placed second in the 300m, 800m and shotput. She was also third in the long jump.
On the boys front, the Knights’ 4x100m junior relay team, which included Sean Hernandez, Angelo Labrador, Nick Osho and Alex Balbino, established a new school record of 3:36.87, en route to a bronze medal. Grade 8 Kairo Chiang, meanwhile finished second in the 100m hurdles, with a time of 14.56, and third in triple jump, reaching a distance of 11.43m. It was a continuation from his work in the pentathlon in South Surrey, where Chiang topped the field with 2596 points over five events.
There, he put up gold numbers in long jump (5.35m) and 100m hurdles (15.01), and silver in 1000m.
The senior boys 4x100m team of Julian Valerio, Gabe Nacario, Josh Lunot and Ricky Parsons placed seventh in a very competitive race in Kelowna.
The provincial results capped off an excellent season which included the Independent Schools’ banner.
Here are more STM results: GIRLS, Senior – Shiloh Corrales-Nelson, 2nd HT, SP, 5th disc; Michelle Dadson, 2nd disc, 3rd SP, 7th HT; Mia Malinowski, 3rd jav; Maria Sain, 15th 1500rw. Junior – Alicia Bremer, 3rd 80h, 5th 300h; Milena Kalisch, 6th 1500, 3000; Isabella Laing, 8th 1500rw; Kate Stewart Barnett, 1st 1500st, 2nd 400, 4th HJ; Annette Yu, 18th 1500rw. Grade 8 – Sara Austin, 8th 200.
BOYS, Senior – Jack Wagner, 6th SP. Junior – Alex Balbino, 16th 1500rw. Grade 8 – Kairo Chiang, 2nd 100h, 3rd TJ; Dominic Kully, 17th SP, 20th HJ; Nicholas Mckinnon, 11th HJ, 20th 1500.
